And All the Vegetables Too
by Ironi Numair
Summary: It was then that Frigga remembered that her beloved second son was not a god, but mortal.


Forgot I had this. Holy crap, a completed fic!

Prompt from the Thor kink meme on LJ: _Odin stole Loki from a race of long lived beings, but not they are not immortal nor are they gods. What did Odin/Frigga do and/or sacrifice to bring their beloved new baby boy into the fold?_

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><p><strong>And All the Vegetables Too<strong>

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><p>"The Frost Giants are a hardy people, surviving long lives in their environment. Here in Asgard, I'm sure he will live even longer."<p>

"That's not good enough!"

Frigga had taken absent note of the fact that Loki had begun to surpass Thor in height; boys grew at different rates, after all. It was not until that day she sat in the garden, watching her sons play together, when she noticed the actual _difference_.

Tyr had approached and watched beside her as the boys tussled in the dirt. He smiled broadly, as an old warrior anticipating fresh faces to the fold always did.

"It will not be long now before my Queen's son is ready to join us in the sparring ring."

Frigga smiled, naturally looking to her eldest, only to realize he was not whom Tyr had meant. Thor was still very much a child, while Loki, though still a boy, was showing those earliest signs of his body's preparation to change from one thing to another that had nothing to do with his shape-shifting.

Still, maturity was a fluid thing, and Frigga set it to the back of her mind. Then came the day she happened to gaze out the window to see her sons in their usual stomping grounds in the garden. Thor, stick in hand and ready to face off against imaginary foes, tugged at his little brother's tunic. _Little! _Loki, who stood a whole head taller than Thor now, brushed him off, his focus intent on something else. Frigga could not help but to lean out the window and see what had caught her second son's attention so.

A group of young maidens congregated not too far from the boys, enjoying the sun and gossiping as was their way. One maiden, voluptuous in form, bent low to inhale the scent of a flower, exposing the top flesh of her breasts. Even from her distance, Frigga could see Loki's green eyes drop with her.

This was wrong. When had Thor fallen so behind? No, Frigga corrected herself, her eldest was right where he was supposed to be for his age, it was Loki who was forging ahead at an increasing rate. All their lives, Frigga had regarded Thor and Loki as her sons first, Aesir or not second, if at all. But now Loki's heritage was becoming insistent, refusing to be forgotten by a boy who did not know it was even _there_.

"It makes perfect sense," Odin said when she brought up the matter, "considering their environment, their young must grow faster between the place at their mother's teat to adulthood than our own. It may be awkward for our sons at first, but Thor will catch up."

It was not the two brothers' place with each other that worried Frigga, but Loki himself. For one thing, as the maturity gap increased between them, Loki would become curious if not downright suspicious of the phenomenon of his sudden growth compared to his peers. He was a clever boy, and it would not take much more for him to start placing things together. Frigga had always wanted Loki to know of his origins, but for him to find out on his own was only inviting disaster. His trust in them would be forever suspect, for if they could lie to him of his very nature...

No, what kept Frigga awake at night, kneading the sheets between her fingers was the all too blunt reminder that her precious son was not a god.

Loki was mortal.

When she did sleep, her dreams were filled with images of her children, grown strong and powerful. Side by side would Thor and Loki walk, but then something would change. Thor, ever radiant, would continue on as Loki began to falter, his light dimming and his back bending under the weight of age. He would sit, her second son, white haired and wrinkled until his life finally winked out and he turned to dust that slipped through her fingers.

But how? Loki was not the only Asgardian who was not Aesir. Frey and Freya were Vanir, yet as shining as immortal as any of their Aesir kin. Why had Asgard itself not extended its love and warmth to Loki? He lived the same day and night cycle, the same turn of the seasons, partook of the same food…

No, he didn't. During the feasts, when Idunn's apples were brought forth, shining in their tantalizing offer of youth and vitality, Loki never took one. When an apple was placed before him, he casually rolled it onto Thor's plate or let it drop to the floor for Geri and Freki. The most Frigga had ever seen him eat of one was to nibble a little upon the apple's flesh before leaving it.

"My son, you must eat," Frigga stressed to him as he left his apple untouched.

"I do not _like_ them, Mother. They have a taste I do not enjoy..."

Odin finally had to tell his wife to stop fussing with Loki so obviously. "Would you make him think himself lesser to Thor, who does not receive your instructions on how to live, as though he is a fool who does not _know_?"

"He grows too quickly! Soon he will be a man, and then he will grow old and die, and you will have but one son again! Or is that what you want?"

Odin glowered at her but let the last comment go. She knew better than anyone of his love for Loki, and it was only her worry that made her speak thus. "You exaggerate. Loki will grow as he wills. You are his mother, it is your duty to worry, but keep your womanly frets to yourself, lest you weight _him_ down with them."

Frigga remained angry with her husband, but chose to wait him out. He would see the truth for himself. He always did.

That day came when dignitaries arrived from Alfheim. A feast was held in their honor, and it was with pride that Odin presented his two sons to them. The chosen speaker for the elves smiled at the boys, for who in the Nine Realms had not heard of the All-Father's sons?

"I'm honored," the elder elf intoned, and turned to Loki, "You must be Thor. You have the look of a fine young man."

Loki blinked, then bowed his head slightly. "You are too kind, sir, but I am not Thor, but Loki."

The dignitaries all looked embarrassed. "Forgive me, my Lord," the elf said to Odin, "we thought that Thor was the elder son, but now I see we were mistaken!"

"I _am_ the elder son," Thor groused, arms crossed over his chest and his voice very much still of childish timbre.

Deciding to leave the increasingly awkward situation while he could, especially before Thor stumbled upon rudeness, Loki took hold of his brother's shoulders, and said, "Please excuse us, my lords," before steering his elder yet littler brother away. There was a definite twist of his lips, forming a smirk.

"Loki, stop laughing!" Thor whined as he was forcefully led away.

Odin watched them go, for the first time truly _seeing_ the difference that had grown between them. Thor was entering adolescence, his body changing and already developing signs of the strength he would have, but Loki...

Loki was nearly as tall as Odin, devoid of any remaining childish shape, and his voice long broken. He'd overcome his gangly awkwardness and begun to fill out with lean muscle, moving with a grace unknown to one his age. One his age...by Valhalla, the rest of Loki's age group were still but _boys_, and yet here was Odin's second son, nearly a man! And it was worse than that as he watched his nearly-grown son attempt his charms on a young lady. She looked most uncomfortable, not from anything he said or did, but the fact that she knew how old he really _was_.

Loki's childhood was over, his interests and skills elsewhere, yet all of Asgard was determined to see him as a boy, as Odin had been.

The All-Father's heart sunk. He'd committed a wrong against his son and hadn't even realized it.

"I was wrong," he admitted to Frigga as they lay together that night. She did not need to ask of what he spoke; she'd seen the exchange and the dawning revelation that had crossed her husband's face during the festivities.

A part of her wanted to be angry. Angry with Odin, for not noticing; at Loki, for being so reclusive so that they could _not_ notice; and at herself, for never forcing the issue on either of them. But she sighed those thoughts away. What's done is done. Odin was king, and as such could not announce his mistakes and could rarely retract his words, save to her. The fact that he still could, even after all these years, meant something in itself. She leaned into him, reaching up and tugging on his beard playfully.

"Does that mean I can finally force-feed our son Idunn's apples?"

"As many as you want, my love. I'll even hold him down for you."

Fortunately, it did not come to that. She found Loki sitting alone in the garden the next morning, his hands empty and his eyes tracking things far away only he could see. It was strange to see him on his own these days, as he and Thor had managed to find a happy medium in their friendship with the Warriors Three, as they called themselves. They were older than her sons, nearly men, so Loki did not feel so awkward among them, and yet they indulged and enjoyed Thor's company, shaping his mind towards grand adventures in the days to come.

Frigga sat beside Loki and extended a shining, golden apple to him. "From Idunn's newest crop. The first of the season are always the best."

Loki sighed and pushed it away, though not unkindly. "I told you, I do not like them."

"Please, my son, think of your health."

"I feel fine."

Chuckling, Frigga rested her chin on her son's shoulder, blinking up at him through long lashes. "If I thought you felt anything but, I would have brought you a healing stone. Come now," she held the apple before his nose, teasing, "to reject vitality and immortality over taste is not like you."

He shrugged. "I do not need them. Is immortality not my right by birth? Am I not a god?"

It was a rhetorical question, spoken flippantly to be forgotten. Yet Frigga did not miss the way his eyes shifted to her as he said the words, boring into her, and she had to fight not to visibly react. Odin's eye, he suspected. He knew not of what his suspicions were about, but he had them, he _knew_ something was not as it should be.

She should tell him, now, while it was just the two of them in private. While she could hold him close and assure him of their love. While he could still take that knowledge and do with it what he willed. To spread it to those he trusted or hold it close to himself.

But Odin had spoken on the matter, and while Frigga and he were equal in their love and in their marriage, they were not in their standing. He was her King, and she could not defy him.

Frigga reached up and cupped her son's cheek, her thumb moving softly against his skin. "How could you be anything less?"

And Frigga did not consider herself a liar, for this too was truth.

"Then there is nothing more to say on the matter," Loki said and pulled away.

Yes there was, and Frigga would say it. She stood, pulling his arm and bringing him to his feet with her. "Come with me." Her voice was still pleasant, but Loki picked up on the warning undertone that brooked no argument. That tone had sent him scurrying too many times in his life to do anything but obey.

They walked together across the ramparts, enjoying the warm sun and cooling breeze. Loki was as a gentleman, walking with his mother on his arm, and while Frigga smiled at her son, she felt a heavy sadness. How long ago had it been that he'd been dashing after her and clinging to her skirts? Not so long. In the blink of an eye, her son had grown up. She could still save him, preserve his youth and keep him forever strong, but his childhood was gone, swallowed by his Jotunn nature.

Finally they reached Idunn's orchard, and Frigga led him inside. Few were allowed here, though she had no doubt both her sons had stolen into the orchard once or twice just to prove they could. She found a quiet place amidst a thick copse of trees where the grass grew lush and sat, Loki beside her. Amidst the golden sunlight reflecting off the apples, the ever green leaves, and the dappled shadows they cast, Loki blend in well with the surroundings, as though he always belonged just to this spot.

"Though we are immortal," Frigga began, "we still age, we still feel the effects of time. Otherwise I would still be a beautiful young maiden, rather than your old mother, would I not?"

"Nonsense, Mother. There are none more lovely than you."

"Flatterer," she said and tweaked his nose, "but an appreciable one. Once youth is spent, even we cannot get it back, but we can maintain it." Reaching up, Frigga pulled free another apple. "You will live forever, but would you wish to spend your eternity an old man?" She took a bite, and delicately licked the juice from her fingers. "I'll tell you a secret, my love. I never liked the taste much at first, either, but I got used to them."

"Really?" Loki said, his voice light. He reached over and plucked the apple from his mother's hand. "I always found the taste quite...delectable," and he took a large bite.

Frigga stared at her son in confusion. "Loki..."

"Mother, when have you known me to do anything I did not wish to? Including growing up?"

Understanding dawned, and with it a dull, simmering anger. "How could you?" she cried, grabbing hold of his wrists. The apple fell from his hand, forgotten. "How could you _do_ this to yourself? To _me_? Did you think I would not want to spend as much time with you as I could?"

"Because I loathed it!" Loki snarled with such vehemence that Frigga released him. "I was smaller than everyone, Mother, you know it! I was weak, pathetic, unable to do _anything_. Why would I have wanted to extend that? To waste my life _waiting_ for something I could have..." he trailed off, chuckling, "Granted, I grew a lot _faster_ than I anticipated, and for that I am sorry, Mother."

In a way, Frigga did understand. He had indeed been small, unable to lift even the play weapons Thor wielded with ease, too small to handle spells of any power and hands too clumsy to catch their intricacies. The solution must have seemed so easy to Loki, something to let him catch up to his brother, and finally surpass him. All he need do was not eat the golden apples. What she didn't understand was Loki's impatience. He was smarter than this, to not know there would be repercussions for his actions. The loss of experience growing up with Thor alone would be irreparable.

And what damage could he have done to himself, not knowing his Jotunn heritage, if he kept going?

"Never weak, and _never_ pathetic," she whispered.

Loki did not want his mother to be angry with him, or worse, that he'd somehow disappointed her. "I _am _sorry, I did not realize it would affect you so." This time is was he who reached out, caressing her cheek, "You will always be my mother, I never expected otherwise, even when I _am_ old and grey."

"Oh Loki," Frigga sighed, placing her hand over his. "You have apple on your face."

Loki wiped at his mouth absently, missing the apple bits entirely. Frigga pulled out a kerchief and leaned toward him.

"Here, let me."

"Mother, I can get it...I can get it! _Mother!_" he whined as she wiped his mouth like a child.

"Indeed, I will always be your mother, including all the embarrassing acts that go with it. And you still owe me _many_ years of embarrassment, young man."

She was letting him off easy, and he knew it. "Yes, Mother."

"And I won't tell your father about this, he's not as _understanding_ as I am. But swear to me, Loki, that you will never do anything like this to yourself again."

"Never again, Mother. I swear."

There were many things said about Loki and his silvered tongue, but Frigga knew he never went back on a oath. "Good. Now just eat the damn apples."

"And all my vegetables, too."

"I'll remember you said that."

Loki smiled and clambered to his feet, offering his hand to his mother. Together they left the orchard as they came, Frigga on the arm of her second son. She could look on the bright side of this; she would have an eternity with Loki, even if it was not as her little boy. She supposed the next step was to start harassing him for grandchildren, once she got over the idea of some other woman stealing his attentions from her.

Well, perhaps not yet, then.

Loki made a show of eating Idunn's apples for a short while, ensuring that his mother and father saw him, and his rapid growth slowed to a near halt, leaving him on the cusp of manhood.

"How did you manage to get him to eat them?" Odin asked her as Loki spat an apple seed into Thor's ear, a reminder that he was not as old as he looked.

"You didn't think he inherited his way with words from _you_, did you, dear?"

It was not long until Thor hit his own growth spurt and shot upwards, eventually catching up with Loki and, slowly over time, surpassing him by just enough. But it was his impressive strength that allowed him to overshadow his brother in prowess. By then, Loki was well established in his magical arts and the two managed to complement each other in their skills as they traveled throughout the realms.

Thor was just happy to finally be the big brother again, in a far more literal sense, and he made sure Loki never forgot it. Loki, as always, was never gracious about such things.

"I used to be bigger than you, remember," Loki said after suffering another bout of Thor's posturing.

"Ah brother, that was then," Thor declared, and wrapped and arm around Loki's shoulders, "What is important is now!"

Thor beamed, Loki glowered, and Frigga secretly smiled to herself.

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><p>End<p> 


End file.
